Conventional containers for viscous liquid normally have a threaded cap, which is removed to shake or squeeze out the viscous liquid. The containers may either be flexible or rigid, and some closures include a supplementary cap or removable cover adapted to cover up a dispensing outlet in the closure. As the viscous liquid is used up, the contents accumulate in the lower end of the container opposite the closure and have to be shaken or momentarily held in an inverted position to allow the contents to reach the dispensing outlet.
Many approaches have been made for solving this problem. One approach is to add another outlet on the bottom of the bottle as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,488 issued Jun. 6, 1995 to Ehrbar. Many patents, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,280 issued Jun. 23, 1998 to Ehresmann, disclose an inverted bottle holder, which requires removal from the stand and usage in the conventional manner. U.S. Pat. No. 3,172,575 issued Mar. 9, 1965 to Vosburg discloses a stand for a liquid fluid dispenser such as ink or the like. This fluid dispenser is always open for continual supply of the fluid to an ink pad.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,668 issued Jun. 5, 1990 to Krall inverts the container on a special support which will allow the contents to flow through an outlet in the support when the container is raised within the support and the container wall is flexed. This requires liquid to flow from a well in the support itself.
A number of U.S. patents have disclosed closure devices adapted to fit a threaded neck on a container and having a supplementary cap which is pivoted on a living hinge on the periphery of the closure, and which provided a plug member blocking a smaller dispensing outlet in the closure member. Exemplary of such patents are U.S. Pat. No. 5,169,035 issued Dec. 8, 1992 to Imbery, U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,018 issued Oct. 18, 1994 to Dubach, U.S. Pat. N. 5,547,091 issued Aug. 20, 1996 to Neveras, et al and U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,671 issued Feb. 9, 1988 to Mears. Instead of using an integral hinge, a two-piece dispensing closure is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,606 issued Feb. 19, 1991 to Bolen, Jr., et al.
Lastly, the prior art has suggested an inverting support for containers having necks of various sizes. One such support is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,035 having a flexible compression sleeve adapted to fit bottles and containers having spouts of various sizes and shapes. This U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,035 issued Mar. 8, 1994 to Millar requires a multi piece structure using flexible flanges together with a compression sleeve and seal to receive the spouts.
It would be desirable to have a simplified supporting closure assembly which supports the container in an inverted position and blocks any escape of the viscous liquid in the container, yet which easily pivots out of the way to a dispensing position. The improved closure would desirably also fit threaded containers of more than one neck diameter.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide an improved supporting closure assembly for a container adapted to hold and dispense a viscous liquid.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved closure which will support the container in an inverted position and which fits more than one size container neck.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved closure support which easily dispenses viscous liquids and closes reliably to store the liquid in the container in an inverted position without leakage.